Dear Friends,

Welcome to our first edition of ‘In the Word’ for 2022 and the second edition of the new and refreshed design of our e-newsletter. We hope you like it!

The re-design extends right across our digital communications, including our website and our Society Matters mission magazine. It signifies the importance we place on communications as one of the key pillars of our mission.

St Arnold Janssen, the founder of the Divine Word Missionaries, was a great fan of sharing the gospel and sharing mission via the printed word, long before digital communications were ever dreamed of. He himself edited magazines and to this day, Communication is one of the four key pillars or charismatic dimensions of the Society of the Divine Word.

Communications is really at the heart of mission. It means to share our story, to share the story of Jesus Christ. To share the Good News we have received in the love of Christ with others. We hope that in the stories you read in ‘In the Word’ you’ll see various different facets of the missionary activity of the SVD Australia Province and be inspired to join us in this mission.

Finally, as we begin this new year, still caught up in the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, may we not give in to fatigue and anxiety, but renew our hope in the Lord.

In his New Year message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Francis throws light on our path forward; a path of solidarity and compassion; a path of humility and courage:

“Dear brothers and sisters, as we seek to combine our efforts in order to emerge from the pandemic, I renew my thanks to all those who continue to work with generosity and responsibility in the areas of education, safety and protection of rights, in supplying medical care, in facilitating meetings between family members and the sick, and in providing economic support to the needy and those who have lost their jobs. I continue to remember the victims and their families in my prayers,” the Holy Father said.

“To government leaders and to all those charged with political and social responsibilities, to priests and pastoral workers, and to all men and women of good will, I make this appeal: let us walk together with courage and creativity on the path of intergenerational dialogue, education, and work. May more and more men and women strive daily, with quiet humility and courage, to be artisans of peace. And may they be ever inspired and accompanied by the blessings of the God of peace!”

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,

Provincial.